Health workers get off the Dutch-flagged MV Hondius, a cruise ship carrying nearly 150 people as it remains off Cape Verde on Monday, May 4, 2026 after three passengers died and several others fell seriously ill in a suspected hantavirus outbreak. QASEM ELHATO / AP
Two hantavirus cases have been confirmed and five others are suspected among people on a cruise ship stuck off Cape Verde, including three who have died, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday, May 5. The WHO said it was trying to contact passengers on an April 25 flight between Saint Helena and Johannesburg, taken by one of the sickened cruise ship passengers, who died the next day. "As of 4 May 2026, seven cases (two laboratory confirmed cases of hantavirus and five suspected cases) have been identified, including three deaths, one critically ill patient and three individuals reporting mild symptoms," the United Nations health agency said in a statement.
Subscribers only
What happened aboard the MV Hondius, where 3 people died in a suspected hantavirus outbreak?
During the cruise, which was traveling from Ushuaia in Argentina to Cape Verde off west Africa, "illness onset occurred between 6 and 28 April 2026," WHO said. It was "characterized by fever, gastrointestinal symptoms, rapid progression to pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and shock," it said, adding that "further investigations are ongoing." WHO stressed that it assessed the risk to the global population from the outbreak as "low," adding that it would continue to monitor the situation.
